An in vitro anther-culture method has been improved by using young mother plants and by using frequent subcultures, thus increasing the androgenic yield in different Capsieum annuum L. genotypes. An assortment of peppers was used, composed of 15 genotypes (four breeding lines, seven cultivars and four E, hybrids). A new system for quahfying the androgenic response was established. Eor use in practical breeding, a minimum of 5 % of plant regeneration was proposed as the criterion for a fair response. Accordingly, one excellent, one good and eight fair responses were identified among the genotypes investigated. As compared to the standard cultivar, 2 genotypes gave a significantly better response, i.e. 'Eeherozon' (75.8%) and 'Szechuan 90716' (21.0%). In comparative investigations, E, hybrids, produced from crosses between poor/non-responsive and responsive genotypes, showed a fair level of response, even the case of a poor response in donor parent. The ploidy level of the resulting plants was determined by flow-cytometric analysis.

Pepper (Capsicum L.) is a major vegetable and spice crop worldwide. Global production of both fresh and dried fruit continues to increase steadily in terms of area harvested and yield. Various topics are addressed in this review, including recent additions to and clarification of Capsicum taxonomy, genetic resources of Capsicum, cytogenetic studies, the current status of our understanding of the mechanisms affecting the biosynthesis of capsaicinoids, the use of gene mutations to elucidate carotenoid biosynthetic pathways and their regulation, and recent advances in whole-genome sequencing and assembly.

The Capsicum genus, which originates from the American continent, contains species with a chromosome number of n=12. The plants have white, lilac or purple flowers, and hollow fruit of very varied shape and size, containing glands alongside the veins that produce a pungent alkaloid known as capsaicin. The majority of varieties in the species C. annuum, grown in the largest volume throughout the world and consumed as fresh vegetables or ground spices, are non-pungent. Interspecific crosses are often possible between C. annuum and related, white-flowered species, thus facilitating breeding for resistance against various diseases and pests and the search for new, valuable traits. Species with lilac and purple flowers can be crossed with each other, but direct crosses with white-flowered species are unsuccessful.

Resurgence of Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) worldwide as well as in Hungary causing heavy economic losses directed the attention to the factors contributing to the outbreak of this serious epidemics. The introgression of Tsw resistance gene into various pepper cultivars seemed to solve TSWV control, but widely used resistant pepper cultivars bearing the same, unique resistance locus evoked the rapid emergence of resistancebreaking (RB) TSWV strains. In Hungary, the sporadic appearance of RB strains in pepper-producing region was first observed in 2010-2011, but in 2012 it was detected frequently. Previously, the non-structural protein (NSs) encoded by small RNA (S RNA) of TSWV was verified as the avirulence factor for Tsw resistance, therefore we analyzed the S RNA of the Hungarian RB and wild type (WT) isolates and compared to previously analyzed TSWV strains with RB properties from different geographical origins. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that the different RB strains had the closest relationship with the local WT isolates and there is no conserved mutation present in all the NSs genes of RB isolates from different geographical origins. According to these results, we concluded that the RB isolates evolved separately in geographic point of view, and also according to the RB mechanism.

To date, several research studies addressed the topic of phytochemical analysis of the different coloured pepper berries during ripening, but none discussed it in the case of purple peppers. In this study we examine whether the anthocyanin accumulation of the berries in the early stages of ripening could result in a higher antioxidant capacity due to the elevated amount of polyphenolic compounds. Therefore, enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant capacity was measured in four distinct phenophases of fruit maturity. Furthermore, the expression of structural and regulatory genes of the anthocyanin biosynthetic pathway was also investigated. An overall decreasing trend was observed in the polyphenolic and flavonoid content and antioxidant capacity of the samples towards biological ripeness. Significant changes both in between the genotypes and in between the phenophases were scored, with the genotype being the most affecting factor on the phytonutrients. An extreme purple pepper yielded outstanding results compared to the other genotypes, with its polyphenolic and flavonoid content as well as its antioxidant capacity being the highest in every phenophase studied. Based on our results, besides MYBa (Ca10g11650) two other putative MYBs participate in the regulation of the anthocyanin biosynthetic pathway.

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Pepper is an important horticultural crop due to its culinary as well as ornamental applications. Some Capsicum varieties build up anthocyanins in their different organs. The biosynthesis of these pigments – beside genetic determinism – depends on diverse factors such as the environment, developmental stage and type of tissue. Though anthocyanin biosynthetic pathway has been first described in the 1800s and from then on it has been well established even in species belonging to Solenaceae, information on the pathway is scarce in case of Capsicum spp. This review comprises the current knowledge on the biochemistry and molecular biology of the anthocyanin biosynthetic pathway.